Posted on Friday, June 24, 2022
This summer, the campus has been buzzing with activity as incoming Panthers and their families participate in get-to-know-you games and tour college buildings during their orientation sessions.
The Office of Housing and Student Life holds separate orientation programs for transfer and first-year students. Transfers spend a day registering for classes, mapping their degree and meeting their new classmates; however, incoming freshmen attend an overnight new student orientation.
“New Student Orientation is the first opportunity to connect with incoming students, LaGrange College faculty and staff, and to learn about student life at LC,” said Dr. Kerry Wallaert, Director of Housing and Student Life.
During the session, freshmen take placement tests, register for classes and get acquainted with their new classmates.
“I want our incoming students to understand they are welcome and belong at LaGrange College,” Wallaert said.
She said each incoming student has the opportunity to create a new story.
“We do this through small orientation sessions, small-group meetings with orientation leaders, individual connections with faculty and staff and through a variety of sessions that meet the transition needs of incoming students,” Wallaert said.
New students get a firsthand account of campus life from their orientation leaders.
Lindsey Swearngin ’23 and Andrew Cunningham ’23, two of the leaders in this year’s group, experienced a nontraditional new-student orientation due to the pandemic.
“My first-year orientation occurred over Zoom during the height of the pandemic,” Swearngin said. “It was a nice opportunity to meet some soon-to-be classmates and familiar faces, but unfortunately it all happened through a screen.”
“Unfortunately, my orientation was entirely over Zoom,” Cunningham said. “It was just a two-hour meeting without any of the fun we are bringing to orientation now.”
Swearngin said she wanted to become an orientation leader to help ease the transition into college for incoming students.
“Coming into freshman year, I felt like I didn’t have many connections on campus since my orientation was via Zoom and I had not met anybody outside of the softball team,” she said. “I am hoping that being a part of a group of friendly orientation leaders will help the freshmen feel more comfortable coming into campus in the fall.”
Swearngin said she decided to attend LaGrange College because it felt like home.
“I wanted to be at a college that didn’t just see me as a number and where I knew I would be valued,” she said.
Cunningham said he wants to show freshmen the fun side of the college.
“It is easy to get bogged down in the serious side of college life,” he said. “I want to make sure they have a really fun time first and foremost, so that way every moment moving forward is backed by that first impression of a good time.”
He said attending LaGrange College was an easy choice for him.
“My father attended LC when I was growing up,” Cunningham said. “Initially I was trying to go somewhere else, but when I toured the college, I was hooked.”
Wallaert said the orientation sessions are not just for incoming students, but also for their families.
“It is important for parents/guardians/family members to understand that they are part of the LC family, and their students will be supported during their time on campus,” she said.
Campus Notes
Thanks to the generosity of alumni and friends, the college received a total of $30,000 on Wednesday’s LC Giving Day. Michael T. Fay ’86 and the Fay Family Foundation gave a matching gift of $15,000.
For the fall semester, transfer students must attend orientation on July 21 or July 27. Non-transfer students are required to attend orientation on July 11-12. For more information, contact housing@kongtiao11.com.
The college will be closed on Monday, July 4, for Independence Day. It will reopen on Tuesday, July 5.
Professor of Political Science John A. Tures wrote an article this week in The Conversation, titled "Red Flag Laws Saved 7,300 Americans from gun deaths in 2020 alone -- and could have saved 11,400 more.” The piece was also published by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Houston Chronicle, San Antonio Express-News, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and more than 30 other newspapers.
Video of the Week
Take a moment and discover dozens of student profiles, commencement videos dating back over 20 years, music concerts and 3D Journey lectures that will transport you from the Alps to Zanzibar.
July Faculty and Staff Birthdays
1-John Cook, Religion
2-Vivian Barnes, Education
2-Carol Yin, Mathematics
6-Deborah Hall, Business Services
7-Janet Craft, Athletic Training
9-Lucinda Muncy, Human Resources
10-Kim Barber Knoll, Theatre Arts
10-Brian Hunter, Business Administration
14-Kelly Ansley, Library
19-Amber Baldridge, Registrar’s Office
24-Sharon Livingston, Education
27-Jon Ernstberger, Mathematics
28-Jackie Belcher, Financial Aid Office
28-Beth McClanahan, Mathematics
Sports
LaGrange College had 78 student-athletes represented on the USA South Athletic Conference’s 2021-22 Academic All-Conference Team. A student-athlete must have earned a 3.30 GPA in each of the two semesters of a given year to be eligible. Any student-athlete participating at any Conference institution is eligible thus the participant does not have to compete in a Conference-sponsored sport. Additionally, any student-athlete earning a 3.90 GPA or above earned the All-Academic honor "With Distinction.” View the 2021-22 USA South Academic All-Conference Team.
In the Headlines
LaGrange College faculty members receive excellence awards - LaGrange Daily News, June 20Category: Philanthropy, College
Keywords: orientation, student life, philanthropy
